Sheet registering mechanism



May 23, 1950 w. F. -HUCK SHEET REGISTERING MECHANISM 2 Shets-Sheet Filed Nov. .3, 1945 INVENTOR. Maw-7 )fl k AAA g May23, 1950 W.F.HUCK 2,508,608

SHEET REGISTERING MECHANISM Filed NOV. 23, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i t 4 1.1.1.... i HI lo W "n Patented May 23, 1950 William F. Huck, Forest Hills, N. Y., minor to R. Hoe & (30., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 23, 1945, Serial No. 830,337

Claims.

, This invention relates to sheet registering mechanisms for rotary printing machines and especially for machines of the type described in Patent 2,231,914, in which sheets are fed to a rotating cylinder that registers them without stopping their movement into the printing machine, and more specifically the present invention includes an improvement on a timing cylinder fully disclosed in Patent 2,406,006, which cylinder is used with a machine of the kind shown in the first mentioned patent.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet timing cylinder of relatively small diameter and having retractable sheet stops that engage the leading end of each sheet as it is fed to a rotating cylinder,

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet timing cylinder for usewith a printing machine of the kind shown in the hereinbefore mentioned patent, of generally improved con- .struction and arrangement, whereby the device rangements of parts, and in the details of con-v struction hereinafter described and claimed.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view on the line l| of Figure 4, with certain parts broken away, and showing a portion of a sheet timing cylinder in which the invention is incorporated; v

Figure 2 is an enlargement of a portion of the mechanism of Figure 1, showing the parts in another phase of its operation;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic sketch showing the path of the sheet stop of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the sheet timing cylinder and adjacent parts, as seen in the direction of arrow 4 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, a portion of a sheet feeding and registering mechanism is shown which includes a sheet timing cylinder H and a sheet receiving cylinder |'2. Sheets are forwarded to the timing cylinder by sheet carrying belts l5, and over-sheet belts |4 acting in cooperation with sheet stops l6 that are carried by a chain ll. From the sheet timing cylinde H, the sheets are transferred to the sheet receiving cylinder H of a printing machine by sheet transfer belts l8. The sheet receiving cylinder herein shown embodies the principals of the sheet receiving cylinder |3 of Patent 2,231,914, which supports endless chains that carry gripper mechanisms for gripping and holding the sheet, although the gripper mechanism as herein shown is somewhat modified. Preferably the sheet receiving cylinder |2-is provided with endless chain supports and side registering mechanism, all of which are fully disclosed in the drawings and specification of Patent 2,231,914.

Sheet stops |9 are supported by the receiving cylinder I2, and cooperate with the gripper mechanism which includes a pair of concentric tubular shafts 2| and 22. The outer shaft 22 is mounted on chains (not herein shown), which are carried about sprockets at each end of the sheet receiving cylinder IL. The inner shaft 2| is'rotatably supported and is biased in one direction by longitudinally spaced springs 23, each of which surrounds a spring rod 24, retained in a recess 26, formed in the outer shaft 22. One end of each spring 23 presses a forked head 21 of the rod 24 against one edge of an opening 28 formed in the inner shaft 2|. The other end of each spring rod 24 is pivoted by means of a pin 29 to an arm 3| of a sheet gripper 32. Each sheet gripper is pivotally supported from a lug 33 that is formed integral with the outer shaft, and each gripper has a finger end 34 for pressing and holding the leading end of the sheet against a gripper pad 35, that is supported in position to be engaged by the gripper finger. The inner shaft 2| is rotated and the gripper is raised from the sheet by an arm 36, secured to the shaft 2| and having a roller 31 that is operated at the proper time by a cam (not shown) Sheet guides 40 (Figure l) are suitably secured to a cross member of the machine frame.

The belts I4, 15, and i8, and the stops I carried by the chain 11 function to forward sheets to the timing and receiving cylinders and to press the leading end of these sheets first against sheet stops 38 carried by the timing cylinder andlater against the sheet stops l9, that are positioned on the receiving cylinder |2 in proper relation to the grippers 32. The sheet carrying belts I5 are led about pulleys'39 and other pulleys not shown. Each chain I1 is carried by a sprocket 4| and another sprocket not shown. The over-sheet belts are ledabout pulleys 42 and additional pulleys not shown. The sheet transfer belts I8 are ledunder pulleys 82, part way around the sheet timing cylinder II, thence to and part way around the sheet receiving cylinder l2. After leaving the sheet receiving cylinder the sheets pass about a driving pulley not shown which directs the belts II toward a tightener pulley 48, from which they are led over the cylinder II and about a pulley not shown, which directs them to the under side of the timing cylinder II as shown.

In order that the leading edges of advancing sheets may be pressed against the various sheet stops and registered, the belts are driven at speeds greater than the speed of the sheet stops.

In order to provide a timing cylinder of re-, duced size and weight, the cylinder II is made with a diameter that is one half that of the receiving cylinder I2, and it is driven by suitable gearing, at twice the angular velocity, with a peripheral speed that is approximately that of the receiving cylinder. Hence the timing cylinder makes two revolutions during the feeding 01 each sheet to the printing machine.

In order that the sheet stops it will not puncture the intermediate portion of the sheet during the second revolution of the cylinder II, the stops are retracted into the cylinder during each non-registering revolution. The mechanism for retracting and projecting the sheet stops 38 includes a cam roller 44 (Figures 1 and 4) that cooperates with a rotating cam 48. This cm (Figure 1) has a short low portion 41 and a relatively long high portion 48, and is formed integral with a sleeve 48 (Figure 4), the bore of which is fitted to the outer surface oi a sleeve BI and secured thereto by a set screw 82'. The sleeve SI is preferably formed integral with a gear 83, and the whole is carried by the outer race of a roller bearing 54. The inner race of the roller bearing I54 is held on a step 88 of a stud i! that is secured in a hole 58 in a main frame member 58 of the printing machine. The gear 53 is in mesh with a gear ii that is formed integral with a planetary gear 82, and the two gears BI and 82 are rotatably supported on a stud 63, held in a bracket 84, that is secured to an end cap Ila of the timing cylinder II by screws 86. The planetary gear 82 is in mesh with a fixed gear 81 supported on the stud i1 and held against rotation by a screw 88. Thus when the timing cylinder II is rotated by a suitable means, the planetary gear 82 revolves around the fixed gear 81 and also rotates on the stud 83. The gear 8i also revolves around the stud i1 and rotates with the gear 82 about the stud 83. This motion rotates the gear 58 and the cam 48 in the same direction as the cylinder II, but due to the ratio of the gears, the cam is rotated at one half the speed of the cylinder. Thus the cam roller 44, which is hereinafter shown to be carried by the cylinder II, drops into the low portion I! of the cam 48 during alternate revolutions-of the cylinder II.

The cylinder II is provided with a tubular core 68 which supports a plurality of pairs of semi-circular collar members II that are suitin the timing cylinder II.

ably clamped on the core. and each end oi. the core 88 is provided with a recess II that is bored to receive the outer race of a roller bearing II. The inner race of this roller bearing is supported on a second step I8 of the stud 81, and is held on the end of the stud by a disc II and a bolt II. The cam roller 88 (Figure 1) is carried at one end of a rocker arm I8, the center of which is secured to a rocker shaft 8I by a key 88, and the opposite end of the arm I8 is pivotally connected to one end of a spring rod 82 by a pin 88. The rod 82 is provided with a collar 84 that forms an abutment for a spring 88 that biases the arm ll counter-clockwise as seen in Figure 1 and thus holds the cam roller 44 in contact with the cam 48. An end 81 of the rod 82 passes through a hole 88 in a block 88 that is swingably mounted The rocker shaft ii is rotatably supported in bearings 8| and 82 (Figure 4), and carries a plurality of spaced collars 83 each having a slot 84 (Figure 1) and a bolt 88 by which they are secured to the rocker shaft 8|. A pair of sheet stops 88 are suitably secured to opposite faces of each collar, 88 (Figure 4) and the outer end of each sheet stop 38 is provided with a sheet engaging surface 81 (Figure 1) against which the sheets are registered when the stops are projected from the timing cylinder II, as shown in Figure 1. It will be seen that the rotation of the cam roller 48 about the cam 48 will result in rocking the shaft 8| with the sheet stops 38 which are thus alternately swung forward and backward and respectively into and out of the timing cylinder II as will be more particularly described hereinafter.

Each sheet stop It carried by the chain I'I (Figures 1 and 2) includes an inside link member IIII pivotally connected to the other links of the chain by pins I82 and I83. The link member III supports a bracket I88 that includes the sheet stop I6 and an inclined guide bar III'I. Outside link members I88 located on opposite sides of the chain I'I attach the inside link member III to other links of the chain by pins I88 and I". A spacer block III, formed integral with the two outside link members, supports a central por-' tion of a sheet guide finger II: that is secured on the block I I I by a screw I II. when the members MI and I88 are in a straight portion of the chain II as seen in Figure 1, the trailing end of the guide finger I I2 is positioned adjacent the leading portion of the inclined bar I81 and thus forms a pocket Ill into which a sheet may be registered against the sheet stop I 8. As the two link members IM and I88 pass around the sprocket II, they assume the positions shown in Figure 2, in which the pocket H4 is open and the vtrailing end of the finger 'I I2 moved forward to permit transfer of the sheet to the timing cylinder II.

The sheet stops 88 are shown at position A in Figure 1, and the cam 41 and the cam roller 44 are then in the relative positions there shown Forward rotation of the cylinder advances the cam roller 44 out of the low portion of the cam 48 and moves the stop 38 forward out of engagement with the leading edge of the sheet and retracts them into the cylinder. Various positions of the outer extremities of the sheet stops 38 as indicated in Figure 1, show the positions of the sheet stops relative to the periphery of the timing cylinder II at successive points in a cycle of operation. Positions 3', C and D show the sheet stop being accelerated and retracted within the amm cylinder. Position E shows it fully retracted, the cam roller 44 then riding on the high portion of the cam 41. The stop 38 remains fully retracted through positions F, G, H, I, J, K, and L, during approximately a complete revolution of the cylinder, andit is then gradually retarded and projected to the positions indicated at M, N, 0, P and Q, where the stop 38 is projected sufficiently to be engaged by a sheet. This progressive projecting motion of the stop 38 is effected while the roller 44 is moving downward toward the low portion 81 of the cam. While the stop is moving outward from within the cylinder as described, it is also rotating backward with respect to the cylinder, and witha decreasing speed of forward rotation in space, through the positions marked R, S, T, U and V, until it reaches the position indicated at A, where the roller 84 is at the lowest point on the cam. During the motion between positions U and V, the stops 38 are moving sufliciently slower than the cylinder! I, to be overtaken by a sheet that has been brought forward against the sheet stops IS on the chain. When the roller 84 moves away from the low point of the cam, the action is reversed and the sheet stops move faster than the timing cylinder and are quickly accelerated and retracted as previ ously described.

The path of the extremities of the sheet stops 88 during two successive revolutions of the timing cylinder H is clearly shown in Figure 3. At

position Q, the stop is projecting from the cylinder in a position to receive a sheet. At position V, the stop will have moved rearwardly with respect to the cylinder into contact with the sheet, and at the position A where the sheet is about to be transferred to the cylinder l2, the stop 88 immediately starts to move forward away from the sheet and downward into the cylinder, the stop being flush with the cylinder periphery at E. The stop is then held below the cylinder surface through positions H, K, L and to E, where it starts to rise from the cylinder and is projected at the position N and thereafter through the initial period of the next cycle beginning at Q.

In operation, a sheet is carried to the printing machine on the sheet carrying belts l5, and is pressed thereagainst by the first over-sheet belts I], the latter preferably being driven slightly faster than the former. The belts l4 and I5 all run faster than the chain l1 and thus they push the leading edge of the sheet against the sheet stop I 5 on-the link member llll. As the sheet stop l6, travels around the circumference of the sprocket 4|, the finger H2, is tilted as shown in Figure 2, and the sheet is guided between the sheet guides 40 and the periphery of the timing cylinder H, by the sheet transfer belts l8 that are driven at a speed faster than the sheet carrying belts I 5 or the over-sheet belts I4, and also faster than the peripheral speed of the timing cylinder ll. I

When the leading edge of a sheet reaches the timing cylinder II, the sheet stops 38 will be nositioned with their sheet engaging surfaces 81 somewhat in advance of the sheet. Soon thereafter, the sheet will overtake the stops 38 due to its being urged forward by the transfer belts l8 and also due to a slowing down of the motion of the sheet stops 38 b action of the cam 46 on the roller 48.

As the sheet stops and the leading edge of the sheet approach the gripper fingers 32, the sheet is in proper register. When they reach the popressedagainstthe sheetstops l8 whicharemoving at a somewhat slower speed than the sheet. The sheet is then urged toward the sheet receiving cylinder 12 by the sheet transfer belts l8 and held in register against the stops l8. Immediately thereafter, the gripp r fingers 32 close and carr the sheet to the printing cylinders.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the claims rather than to the foregoing description for an indication of the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a sheet timing mechanism for registering sheets to be fed to a sheet receiving cylinder of a printing machine, a rotating timing cylinder driven at twice the angular velocity of the sheet receiving cylinder, movable sheet stops carried by the sheet timing cylinder, and means to project and to retract the stops relative to its peripheral surface during successive periods in each of which the sheet timing cylinder makes two revolutions.

2. In a sheet timing mechanism for registering sheets to be fed to a sheet receiving cylinder of a one direction during one revolution of the timing cylinder and to retract the stops within the cylinder periphery and swing them in the opposite direction during the next revolution of the timing cylinder.

3. In a sheet feeding mechanism for a printing machine having a sheet receiving cylinder carrying grippers for holding the sheet, a sheet timing cylinder, a sheet stop mechanism that proiects from the surface of the timing cylinder during alternate revolutions thereof and is retracted into the timing cylinder during other revolutions, and sheet advancing means arranged to forward sheets to the sheet timing cylinder.

4. In a sheet feeding mechanism for a printing machine having a sheet receiving cylinder carrying grippers for holding the sheet, a sheet timing cylinder rotating at twice the angular velocity of the sheet receiving cylinder, sheet stops that may be projected above and retracted below the surface of the timing cylinder, a cam driven to rotate at one half the angular velocity of the timing cylinder, and a cam roller riding on the said cam and arranged to alternately project and retract the sheet stops during every two successive revolutions of the timing cylinder.

5. In a sheet registering mechanism for a printing machine having a sheet receiving cylinder I and a sheet timing cylinder rotating at substaneg tially the same peripheral speed for registering sheets on the sheet receiving cylinder, sheet registering stops on the timing cylinder, means to feed the sheet toward the stops, operating means to move the stops backward on the timing '0 cylinder and into engagement with the leading edge of a sheet, and means to transfer the leading edge of the sheet to the sheet receiving cylinder, the said operating means acting to move the stops forward on the timing cylinder and sition shown in Figure 1, the sheet is about to be 1| w y fro he l ing edge of the sheet when it 7 is transferred to the sheet registering cylinder.

8. In a sheet registering mechanism for a printing machine having a sheet receiving cylinder and a sheet timing cylinder rotating at substantially the same peripheral-speed for-registering sheets fed to the sheet receiving cylinder, first sheet registering stops on the timing cylinder, means to feed the sheet toward the first stops, secondsheet registering stops on the sheet receiving cylinder, means to transfer a sheet from the sheet timing cylinder to the sheet receiving cylinder and push its leading edge against the second stops, and operating means for the first stops arranged to move them backward on the timing cylinder into engagement with asheet thereon, and then forward on the cylinder and away from the sheet when it is transferred to the sheet receiving cylinder.

"1. In a sheet registering mechanism for a printing machine having a sheet receiving cylinder and a sheet timing cylinder rotating at substantially thesame peripheral speed for registering sheets on the sheet receiving cylinder, sheet registering stops on the timing cylinder, means to feed the sheet toward the stops, means to transfer the leading edge of the sheet to the sheet receiving cylinder, cam operated means to first move the stops backward on the sheet cylinder and into engagement with the leading edge of the sheet being fed and then to move the stops forward on the timing cylinder to clear the leading edge of the sheet when it is transferred to the sheet receiving cylinden 8. In a sheet registering mechanism for a printing machine having a sheet receiving cylinder to which a sheet normally is fed during each revolution, a sheet timing cylinder rotating at substantially the same peripheral speed though at a higher angular velocity, movable sheet'stops carried by the sheet timing cylinder, and means to move the stops forward and into the cylinder andthenbackwardandoutotthecylinderin timed relation with the rotation of the sheet receiving cylinder.

9. In a sheet registering mechanism for a printing machine, a sheet conveyor including a pair of chains and sprockets about which the chains are led, each chain including a first link member having. a sheet carrying surface and a stop, and a second link member having a finger cooperating with the first link member while the said link members are in a straight portion of the chain path, to form a pocket for holding and aligning a sheet being urged against the stops; there being no pocket formed while the said link members are in engagement with the sprockets, and the sheet then being freed for transfer to the printn machine.

10.- In a sheet registering mechanism for l printing machine, a sheet conveyor including a pair of chains and sprockets about which the chains .are led, each chain including a first link member having a sheet carrying surface and a stop, and a second link member having a finger cooperating with the sheet carrying surfaceon the first link member to form a pocket while the said link members are in a straight portion of the chain path; and a pivotal connection between the said link members whereby the said pocket is held open while the said link members are in engagement witha sprocket.

' WILLIAM F. HUCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fiie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,128,390 Upham Feb. 16, 1915 4; 1,991,003 Stevens Feb. 12, 1935 2,406,006 Eckhard Aug. 20, 1946 

